Dad's Army

Episodes

80

Original Broadcast Dates

31 July 1968 – 13 November 1977

Writing Partnership

Croft & Perry

Synopsis

Based in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-On-Sea, the series used its setting for a sublime mix of character comedy and lunatic, slapstick escapades. It recounts the misadventures of the local voluntary defence force (or 'Home Guard') consisting of men too old, too young, or 'unfit' for military service.

Dad’s Army was based partly on its creator and co-writer Jimmy Perry’s real-life experiences in the Local Defence Volunteers (later known as the Home Guard). Perry had been 17 years old when he joined the 10th Hertfordshire Battalion.

Trivia

Originally intended to be called The Fighting Tigers

In 1971 Dad's Army was made into a feature film by Columbia Pictures

In 1975 Dad’s Army transferred to the stage as a revue

Many TV episodes were remade for BBC Radio 4 with the original cast

It only took an hour and a half to tape each episode of Dad's Army, though there was a week's rehearsal prior to the actual recording of each episode.

Arthur Lowe (Captain Mainwaring) had a clause in his contract that stated that he was never to be seen on camera without his trousers.

An episode is kept on standby by the BBC for use as an emergency backup program, to be broadcast if a major technical problem prevents normal programs being shown. This came to light on 20th June, 2000 when the "Six O’clock News" (1984) was interrupted by a power failure at the BBC, and an episode of Dad's Army was transmitted in its place

Jimmy Perry based the character of Private Pike on his own experiences during the war. He originally wrote the part of Private Walker, the spiv, for himself to play, but David Croft vetoed this on the grounds that other cast members would think Perry had taken the best part for himself.

David Croft wanted the series titles to include newsreel footage from the Second World War, including scenes of bombing raids, Nazi troops and Nuremberg rallies. Although he was supported by Head of Comedy Michael Mills, BBC One Controller Paul Fox objected to this, deeming it inappropriate for a comedy series.

Arthur Lowe very rarely memorised his scripts! He told David it was because he could never find his script. David took to sending him extra copies to his home address. Made no difference whatsoever!